Surfin’ U.S.A.
Sat on the balcony of my room, listening to Shania with the boys (my brother and cousin), nothing but blue sky and ocean waves; this week I’m in North Carolina, U.S.A, for a wedding. I would have said hungover, but thanks to magical chemistry it’s only tiredness. Gosh I love science. Happy Sunday, and happy October!
Getting here was fun; it started with checking in to the flight and discovering my passport was all-but-expired — thankfully the Danes gave me a spare. Then onto security with a full monty pat-down, a swab for drugs, and finally seeing my bag kicked to the side for inspection… “Anything sharp in there?” the woman asked. Confuzzled, I had a rummage, and sure enough: my leatherman. “Unfortunately I have to take this,” she said. I laughed, she smiled, and I shall never see that knife again. It was a gift (sorry mum & David!), and now it’s a story. Alas, I’ve become that guy.
Hoping that was it, but then at the gate heard my name over the loudspeaker, impossible to mistake the mangled “Bundegaard.” Nitch-olas Brunder-guard Good-hall. A few routine checks they assured me, like where on earth do you live?! To top it off, we missed the connecting flight, and spent 5 hours wandering the gates of Terminal 4 at JFK, in New York.
While here I’ve been trying to surf; I rented a board for a few days, but have been routinely humbled by my inability to get past the waves crashing over me. The weather’s perfect however, and with a winter wetsuit I could find somewhere in the UK… I can feel another hobby brewing.
More ocean than boat, but we occasionally saw one on the horizon:
On Friday some of us visited the Wright Brothers memorial museum — just 10 minutes from here! — where they first took powered, controlled flight. Truly 2 boys having a blast, who just happened to change the world. It reminded me what a gift it is to feel compelled by a quest, like an idea being pulled out of you. Plus they were phenomenally well-dressed, even in the sand dunes — I’m starting to wonder if my “technology brother” attire is just a phase.
In Katona-related news, I’ve added an archive to the blog.
Until next Sunday!
- Nick